I should add that one boon of road-kill raccoons in the Mercotan household is genuine coonskin caps! My uncle is a taxidermist.
QtM, using every bit that nature provides…
So long as you live in a bubble with no entrance and no egress for your dependent wildlife, you should continue to co-opt nature’s creatures for your own (selfish!) personal entertainment. (I assume you have discussed the borders of your yard and the dangers of asking other humans for food with your furry friends…) The Earth is not your private fairytale, and you’ve no business tampering with the balance of predator or prey.
But when you are ready treat wild things with respect please read the list of endangered and threatened animals and plants in your region. There is much that you can do to create habitat and natural food sources for all manner of furred and feathered animals that will not result in their inability to fend for themselves. As someone with a few extra resources, you have the power to assist animals in peril instead of crippling them with your misguided attempts to make them dependent. Please consider their welfare before your own.
So what? Does that make you hate them? Successful and opportunistic species are what evolution produces, so why don’t you study, celebrate and learn from them?
You say tomato, I say raccoons…
If you want to “protect” any species, that’s your privilege. I don’t have the same priorities, and that’s my privilege. I certainly don’t let someone else dictate my choices as to what wild animals to love and which to hate. And if some species is becoming extinct, well, natural selection works and is damn hard to oppose. Millions of species have become extinct since the world began, and one theory says that homo sapiens owes its very existence to the extinction of some of them. Who am I to oppose nature?
We don’t have any Neighbor Bobs around here, thank goodness. If you represent NB, please stay the hell away and go find your own raccoons to kill.
Nature goes in cycles. Right now, it seems squirrels are plentiful, and the fox population is increasing. Maybe it will crash when squirrels are depleted. Or maybe my food will encourage the squirrel population, which will encourage fox breeding. Either way, Nature will compensate.
What happens if I move or die? Either someone else will take over, or the population of some animals will adjust. What obligation do I have to continue to feed them forever just because I once did? And you are assuming that their only food is from me, which is probably not true.
I am not attempting to domesticate anything. Besides, what makes your choice of pets (dogs and cats) better than mine? All of my domestic pets for all my family’s life have been neutered and most came from castoff sources. If any family could be said to be contributing to animal welfare, it is mine. I once assisted in placement of abused animals in good homes in the area. My lack of discrimination is what makes it "animal’ welfare as opposed to, say, “tabby cat” welfare.
No, it won’t. Bobby’s father & mother, knowing he lives in a rural area, should be educating him to take caution. If Bobby comes over to my house, he may get some education as well. And such eduation includes knowledge of how each species contributes to the ecology as a whole; what their place is in the whole scheme, and admiration for Le Grande Plan.
Protecting species A at the expense of species B is a very personal matter. Who are you to tell me which ones I must love and which I must kill? Could you be one of those fucking, super-righteous eco-fucking-freaks who can’t abide a different opinion from yours?
Strange words from a naturegirl. Next you’ll be telling me to burn down oaks because you like hemlocks better. “Necessary”? Haven’t had to kill one yet.
Musicat, we posted at nearly the same time. I’ve nothing new to add, 'cept maybe to point out that I haven’t declared that I “hate” any creature, nor do I advocate killing them. And while you are re-reading my posts for content, take note of the other responses in the thread. Perhaps I am not the only eco-fucking-freak who feels that you are causing more harm to your raccoons than good. You could also check with your local extension office, wildlife officer, or library for suggestions on how to care wildlife responsibly.
And the Earth is not your private fairytale, either. Since when is my enjoyment “selfish” and yours not? “Tampering with the balance”? Your very existence is tampering with it! Everything you are suggesting is tampering with it! Both encouraging and killing animals is tampering with it! Yet you don’t like my choices of what to encourage, and want me to follow your lead as the super-authority! No fucking way! Who made you God?
You may enourage any animal that you wish, furred, feathered or tarred. I don’t call your choices misguided, just different. And my definition of “respect” is obviously different from yours.
There’s no right or wrong in this argument, my friend, only points of view. Please respect that we have different priorities and desires. And “their” welfare – if we are talking about nature – is exactly what is driving both of us; we just see different ways of reaching the same goal.
My local extension officer is a friend of mine, and lives across the street. He has no problems with raccoons. AFAIK, he doesn’t feed them or kill them, and that’s fine with me. Several other ecology-minded experts live close by; I am in frequent contact with all, and they don’t agree on all topics. Therefore, I reserve the right to make up my own mind until the dust settles. Please feel free to do the same.
You mean you see the typical flyblown roadkill corpse (urk!), someone gets volunteered into risking diseases only you and your colleagues can pronounce by picking the thing up (gak!), drops it hastily into a plastic shopping bag, and the whole family drives it over to Uncle Gharlane’s house so he can disinfect it (How?) enough that he can make it into something a sane person would want touching their body?
I really would like to know the details, because right now I’m torn between taking up the cool craft of tanning leather at home, and nausea. 
:eek:
If you continue to create dependent raccoons that are unafraid of humans and those that expect humans to provide food, they *will * be killed by humans who do not want their property destroyed and who fear rabies in raccoons that act strangely and come close to humans. Period.
I am not in favor of killing raccoons, I am in favor of leaving wild animals wild. Is my position clear? There is no hunting season for raccoons. Raccoons are not usually killed for either food or recreation; but they are frequently killed for exhibiting unusual behavior that could be misconstrued as symptomatic of rabies, and frequently killed for destruction of property. Raccoons living in the woods are seldom killed by humans. But humans will kill raccoons who beg for food or damage property.
Raccoons that live in the wild and fend for themselves generally avoid humans. Your raccoons are on the fast track to domestication, and will come close to humans, which endangers both 'coons and humans.
Your hand fed raccoons are far more likely to be killed than the raccoons who live on the other side of town that fend for themselves.
I can’t phrase this any other way, and since you are the only one here who is deliberately twisting and misunderstanding my words, I see no need to attempt to make myself any clearer.
Just in case you are still misunderstanding- here is an idea. Fence them in. Keep your tame raccoons in your yard. 'K?
Yes, please do not feed the raccoons. Coyotes however are fine to feed. Just don’t feed them the raccoons, they’re too gamey.
They are not dependent, and they are not unafraid of humans. One litter was friendly, and other neighbors enjoyed them as well. They receive supplementary food from more neighbors than just me, and I’ll feed them if I damn well please because I like to.
Rabies is a very rare disease around here. My neighbors do not have their property destroyed. Most neighbors are smart enough to know that a garbage bag left out overnight is likely to be broken into by dozens of hungry animals; raccoons are no hungrier than any, just bigger than some. Unlike human vandals, animals are not ripping things apart just to be a nuisance; they are trying to survive.
One thing you might not have considered is the encroachment of man on wild teritory. This tends to reduce habitat, which reduces animal populations. I don’t plan on bulldozing my house, but maybe I can compensate for having built it by providing food for those affected. It’s the least I can (and will) do.
Maybe in your neighborhood. I am not suggesting you feed your raccoons if you don’t want to; that’s your business. But you are not the arbiter of what’s right in nature and you don’t have a monopoly on advice.
Nonsense. Neither is being endangered, and both benefit. Since a typical life span is about 2-3 years, I rarely see the same generation for long, and each new one has the same fears to start. They get food, we get entertainment and feel like we are helping less fortunate animals. Strange that the actions you despise are exactly the ones we think are beneficial to all.
I’ll send you a crate of 'em tomorrow. 
No, no, let’s get this straight (since I am “straight man” and all that…)
Raccoons are terrifically cute when they’re staring at you out of your (previously closed!) trash can with those dark little eyes, looking all innocent.
Then they start walking with that back-and-forth, ugly-ass-in-the-air-like-the-front-paws-are-really-just-for-show-and-ripping-out-your-fucking-eyes gait, and you realize that the little buggers are actually just nasty vermin that should be destroyed as quickly as possible.
River otters, on the other hand, are actually cute. (I actually see them as often around here, happily enough.)
QtM, I’m one of your biggest fans, but I just can’t fangirl squee over a guy with a dead animal on his head.
Sorry, but you’re going to have to say something clever and witty now for me to get rid of the whole idea of your dead animal hat.
Hey, Pot, my name is Kettle. We both black, huh? Except one of us will take her cues from wildlife experts and professional biologists, and the other takes hers from cartoons and Hallmark. Please reconsider your stance, and include your local endangered fauna in your campaign.
And Musicat, that is really truly stupid behavior. Making wild animals accustomed to humans makes them a) more likely to attack humans, in particular unwary children, and b) get killed by humans. Neither side benefis.
For the lazy and curious, could you point to the post that started the offpissing?
-FrL-
Ah. I see I’m just pissing into the wind. So it goes, I guess.
Let’s all just be thankful that Musicat doesn’t live in bear country.
Well, the problem would solve itself fairly quickly. :eek:
Disclaimer: in truth, I am also glad that Musicat is not risking bear maulings. But she certainly is in a position to get herself hurt with this kind of behavior. The larger problem (in both cases) is that she can get others hurt. Nonetheless, Musicat, I don’t want you mauled (or scratched, with all the disease problems that can follow.)
That’s because inteligent critters avoid living in New Mexico.
Loach, to potential house buyer: “Yes, we used to be plagued with raccoons, about three, maybe four years back, but now the alligators have cleared them out… Hey, wait! Come back!” 